Action Alert:
DARK Act - HR 1599U.S. House of Representatives Seeks to Prohibit Labeling of GMOsMaine's landmark legislation, An Act To Protect Maine Food Consumers' Right To Know about Genetically Engineered Food, could be eliminated if HR 1599 were to pass.More information

To maximize our relevance and effectiveness in a time of changing food systems and changing attitudes, we invite you to participate in one or more meetings, held from August 3 to 6, at the Good Will-Hinckley School in Fairfield, Maine.

Know Your Organic Producers!Meet Gina Hancock of MOFGA-certified organic Hancock Family Farm in Casco, Maine. The Hancocks (Gina, Geof and their two daughters) grow vegetables, vegetable seedlings, cut flowers and herbs, which they sell through their own farm stand, at the Bridgton and Kennebunk farmers’ markets and through their community supported agriculture program. "We believe that building and tending quality soil will translate into healthy, nutritious vegetables; that livestock deserves respectful handling and the opportunity to live out their lives on pasture; and that great farming doesn't happen without community," say the Hancocks. Learn more about Hancock Family Farm on their website and on their Facebook page.Please support MOFGA certified organic farmers and producers!

For ‘Pastor Chuck’, nothing about the apple is forbiddenBangor Daily News - 12/30/2009.By Emmet Meara – Cushing: When life gives positive people lemons, they make lemonade. When life gave “Pastor Chuck” too many apples, he made applesauce. Charles Waite Maclin, aka “Pastor Chuck,” simply had too many apples from his orchard. He couldn’t sell them all from his Pleasant Point Road stand or at farmers markets.

The year in food: The biggest edible news of ‘09 and predictions for 2010Alternet - 12/28/2009.By Ari LeVaux – As 2009 closes out, the dominant issues in the world of food could be lumped into two competing paradigms that have framed much of the decade. In one corner we have Big Food: factory farms, fast food restaurants, mystery meat, biotechnology and other examples of when the economics of scale are applied to how we feed ourselves. In the other corner is Small Food, whose players include farmers' markets, ecology-based agriculture and seasonal diets of minimally processed food.

Urban wasteland: just plow it underKennebec Journal - 12/28/2009.By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times – Detroit: On the city’s east side, where auto workers once assembled cars by the millions, nature is taking back the land. Cottonwood trees grow through the collapsed roofs of homes stripped clean for scrap metal. Wild grasses carpet the rusty shells of empty factories, now home to pheasants and wild turkeys. This green veil is proof of how far this city has fallen from its industrial heyday and, to a small group of investors, a clear sign. Detroit, they say, needs to get back to what it was before Henry Ford moved to town: farmland.

A Chemical Reaction Movie Screening At Railroad SquareMOFGA Announcements - 12/28/2009.A Chemical Reaction. Movie screening at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville on Sunday, January 10, 2010. One show only at 12:30 p.m. This documentary tells the story of a powerful and effective community initiative that started with one lone voice in 1984. Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist, noticed a connection between her patients’ health conditions and their exposure to chemical pesticides and herbicides. With relentless persistence she brought her concerns to town meetings to warn her fellow citizens that the chemicals they were putting on their lawns posed severe health risks and had unknown side effects on the environment.

Regional School Unit (RSU) 1 L.O.C.A.L. Garden in Bath. Offered by Sagadahoc Chapter of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners with the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT). Space is limited so RSVP by email to: joe.kim.sean@gmail.com. For more information, visit KELT at www.kennebecestuary.org or contact Sue West at swest@chewonki.org.